Building the Building the Virtual Library.Virtual Library.

Academic Environments & Academic Environments & Virtual Worlds.Virtual Worlds.

April 9, 2008April 9, 2008

You Are All GeeksYou Are All Geeks

• Librarians.

• Computers in Libraries 2008.

• Track C: Gaming and Virtual Worlds.

We run thingsWe run things

Multiplayer Gaming.Multiplayer Gaming.

• Multiplayer Gaming in 1982:

Multiplayer GamingMultiplayer Gaming

• Multiplayer Gaming in 2008:

Life in the MetaverseLife in the Metaverse

• Today’s students are not only computer-savvy, they are “Digital Natives”. They have grown up in an online world.

(Prensky, 2001)

Gamers today, CEOs tomorrow.Gamers today, CEOs tomorrow.

• “… leaders develop and operate in environments that are highly distributed, global, hypercompetitive, and virtual – not unlike today’s business world”.

-- Eric Lessner,

IBM Institute for Business Values(Career World, Jan 2008)

• If World of Warcraft were a country, its population would be higher than that of Sweden.

• Video gaming is not just for kids anymore. The average gamer is 25 – 30 years old. (Yee, 2006)

• Typical gamers spend up to 22 hours per week online, in video game environments such as World of Warcraft or City of Heroes. (Yee, 2006)

• In countries such as China and Korea, some people make a living out of “farming gold” and selling it for real-world currency. (Lee, 7/5/05)

• Recently, IBM and Linden Labs were discussing protocols that would allow people to transfer their online avatars between worlds. (Hillis, 2007)

Kean UniversityKean University

• 13,050 full-time Graduate and Undergraduate Students.• 376 full-time faculty.• 5 Colleges; 50 undergraduate and 31 graduate degree programs.• 18 division III varsity teams and 30 fraternities and sororities.• Average 30 minute commute to NYC.

(Kean University, retrieved 2/19/08)

Librarians in Second LifeLibrarians in Second Life

• Librarians came to Second Life in 2006.• Created the Info Island reference area, which is currently staffed by

64 volunteer librarians. • Includes several themed islands which comprise the “Info

Archipelago”, including such places as “Renaissance Island”, “Cybrary City”, “EduIsland’, and the newly-created “Land of Lincoln”.

(Dejavu, personal communication, 2/15/08)

Kean University on Cybrary CityKean University on Cybrary City

ReferencesReferences• “Gamers Today, CEOs Tomorrow” (Jan. 2006) Career World. 36(4), p7-7,

2/3p • Hillis, Scott. (10/10/07) “IBM, Linden Lab seek open borders for virtual

worlds”. Reuters Newswire. Retrieved 2/20/07 from: http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2007/10/10/ibm-linden-lab-seek-open-borders-for-virtual-worlds.

• Kean University (retrieved 2/19/08) from: www.kean.edu• Lee, James. (7/5/2005) “From sweatshops to stateside corporations, some

people are profiting off of MMO gold”. Computer Gaming World. Retrieved 2/18/07 from:http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3141815

• Prensky, Marc, (Oct., 2001) Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon. 9(5). Pg 1-6

• Second Life. (Retrieved 2/15/08) from: www.secondlife.com.• Stephenson, Neal. (1992) Snow Crash. Bantam Books. New York.• World of Warcraft. (Retrieved 2/8/08) from: www.worldofwarcraft.com• Yee, N. (2006). The Demographics, Motivations and Derived Experiences of

Users of Massively-Multiuser Online Graphical Environments. PRESENCE: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 15, 309-329.